Acorn has completed the initial phase of development on the Agroforestry Feasibility Tool, developed in collaboration with Wageningen University. Designed to empower stakeholders such as local partners in making informed decisions when planning agroforestry projects, this tool integrates the wealth of existing research in land-use planning, Acorn’s cutting-edge remote sensing technologies, and user-focused interactivity. By enabling users to identify optimal locations for agroforestry based on their priorities—whether that’s soil conservation, water management, or socioeconomic benefits—the tool stands to transform how stakeholders approach land use planning. A prototype of the innovative interactive land-use planning tool is available here.
Traditional approaches to agroforestry planning have often relied on static maps that are difficult to keep up-to-date or are dependent on externally defined recommendations. The Agroforestry Feasibility Tool shifts this paradigm by taking a user through four steps: Step 1 helps a user identify areas that would be feasible for potential agroforestry within the geographical region the user has designated. (Still in its early stages of development, the tool’s prototype is currently only able to provide data for regions in sub-Saharan Africa). In Step 2 the tool’s interface lays out the available variables, such as the potential agroforestry productivity and accompanying co-benefits, which the user can rank in order of priority in Step 3. In Step 4, the tool presents the user with a narrowed down map of areas that meet these specific needs. "We don’t want to decide for stakeholders what they should do," says Tracy Chepkorir, a geospatial data analyst at Acorn. "We want to give them information and options to support their own decision-making processes."
Photo: A screenshot from the tool’s interface where a user can rank different co-benefits of agroforestry projects
Chepkorir—with support from Mila Luleva, Head of Remote Sensing at Acorn—developed the tool in collaboration with Professor Martha Bakker and Dr. Diego Valbuena from Wageningen University. They recognized that in order to create plans that truly meet the needs of stakeholders, local partners need full access to the remote sensing data and other research in the field that is often only available to outside organizations like Acorn. With this kind of tool, local partners, government agencies, and NGOs will be able to determine which metrics to prioritize, like the reduction of soil erosion or the enhancement of water infiltration, based open-source satellite-derived and geographical datasets. These results can then be combined with data from Acorn’s repositories to yield maps of estimated agroforestry productivity, providing users with a holistic understanding of land-use potential.
This user-driven approach not only guides agroforestry project planning to maximize environmental benefit and biomass productivity, but also ensures plans are tailored to specific regional and cultural contexts. Thanks to the tool’s ability to also highlight culturally and/or environmentally significant lands, such as traditional pastoralist areas and native forests, planners can ensure that proposed agroforestry projects respect local traditions and practices, while limiting potential negative environmental impact.
Photo: Map depictions of poverty rate (left), and the resulting assessment of potential benefits (center and right)
It’s almost an understatement to call this project ‘ambitious’—developing a dynamic online platform that translates this amount of data into a tool that responds to user input in real time is quite the feat. “I’m a remote sensing expert, so this project asked me to step into unfamiliar territory: IT and web development,” says Chepkorir. “Creating an online tool meant mastering everything from data storage and server management to user interface design, all of which were relatively new to me.” Using Acorn’s existing agroforestry plot data also provided a few challenges due to the data’s complexity. The tool currently uses one specific agroforestry design to create its estimations, but to provide a more sophisticated and accurate picture, future iterations of the tool will need to consider all potential agroforestry designs.
The collaboration between Acorn and Wageningen University proved essential in addressing these hurdles. Regular sessions with Professor Bakker, an expert in land-use planning research, and Dr. Valbuena, who has practical experience in applying these metrics to design agroforestry projects, helped shape the tool to be both scientifically robust and user-friendly. The newly debuted prototype is merely the first phase of the tool’s evolution. The next steps focus on validating the tool's assumptions with field data. For example, areas that have been identified by satellite as benefiting soil conservation will be tested on the ground to confirm that agroforestry implementation reduces erosion as predicted. This validation process will ensure that the tool delivers on its promise of actionable and reliable insights, and will further refine the level of detail it can provide.
While the tool already includes critical ecosystem services metrics like potential soil and water conservation, plans are also underway to expand its capabilities. Acorn envisions integrating further biodiversity variables, which will enable stakeholders to consider ecological outcomes alongside socioeconomic and environmental ones. “I really hope it will be used for Acorn to upscale its initiatives,” says Chepkorir, “and that we can keep developing it based on stakeholder feedback, making it as useful for them as possible.” In the long term, the team aims to ensure the tool becomes a staple in decision-making for agroforestry initiatives for as many stakeholders in as many areas as possible. Eventually, to goal is to expand the tool’s remit to regions beyond sub-Saharan African, and for it become an essential resource for governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders to enhance agroforestry land-use planning and stakeholder participation at regional and even national scales.
We help support smallholder farmers in developing countries transition to agroforestry. Together with local partners, we facilitate the funding and training needed by farmers to start their agroforestry transition. Transforming the sequestered CO2 through agroforestry into Carbon Removal Units (CRUs), we offer carbon credits to responsible corporates to help them reach their climate goals. The growth of the trees is measured with satellite imagery, AI and LiDAR, and certified by ICROA-accredited Plan Vivo.
With 80% of the sales revenue going directly to the farmers, it creates an additional income stream and helps them adopt a more climate-resilient way of farming that improves food security, biodiversity, and financial independence.
